Arvind Mahankali wins Scripps National Spelling Bee
Indian-American 13-year-old takes out Scripps title and continues Indian dominance of contest
After two close calls, Arvind Mahankali, 13, has won in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
The boy from Bayside Hills, New York, correctly spelled knaidel, the word for a small mass of leavened dough, to win the 86th US national spelling bee on Thursday night.
The German curse has turned into a German blessing
The bee tested brain power, composure and knowledge of vocabulary.
Mahankali finished third in both 2011 and last year, and both times was eliminated on German-derived words. This time, he got one German word in the finals, and the winning word was from German-derived Yiddish, eliciting groans and laughter from the crowd. He spelled both with ease.
"The German curse has turned into a German blessing," he said.
He outlasted 11 other finalists, all but one of whom had been to the National Spelling Bee before, in nearly 21/2 hours of tense competition that was televised nationally. In one round, all nine participants spelled their words correctly.
When he was announced as the winner, Mahankali looked upward at the confetti falling upon him and cracked his knuckles, his signature gesture during his appearances.